Taobao Buyers: How Guilty (Or Not Guilty) Do You Feel?

[Dragonflitter]

I have purchased from taboa and I do not feel guilty about it.

From a moral, hypothetical standpoint: yes, these are Hasbro products almost positively, and Hasbro is also (almost positively) not getting any profit from these.

Although we can NOT say for sure in any way, the general concensus is that these are somehow getting into the hands of Chinese factory workers and then they are selling them without giving any profit to Hasbro. However that has not been proven in any way. We can all make educated guesses, but there is no proof at all that shows where and how these products are getting on taobao. Until Hasbro comes out and says for sure "These products from this chinese website are being stolen from us," this is all just speculation.

Regardless on if our speculation is correct or not, I still don't feel guilty for this. Hasbro is a HUGE WORLDWIDE company. Their profits are NOT suffering from a few sellers on some Chinese website. They make HUGE profits every year, and probably drive home to their big fancy houses in a big fancy car every night, all much better than what we have. ;P

Do I feel guilty when I return a product to Walmart after I accidentally broke it, and exchange it for another item? No. Is it purely ethically innocent, no. I broke it myself, I shouldn't get a new one, technically. But Walmart is big enough and profitable enough that they don't care to nitpick over every little return. The same goes for Hasbro. They are making huge profits over children's toys. They are not suffering from taobao, and I refuse to feel guilty about it.

[mlp4me]

I've made no purchases on there and do not feel guilty at all. Stolen goods are not something I'm into, plus I visited the site and for the life of me could not figure out how to get it translated into English!

[ashes]

I live in the middle of an area (Silicon Valley) where IP is very crucial to many businesses here.

I live in Silicon Valley too!  Born and raised.    My dad (before he retired) worked for HP and they would send him worldwide to oversees sites, warehouses, and factories to implement security training, features, and even set up stings where product was being stolen. 

Now back on topic - I won't buy from Taobao since I don't know where the merchandise comes from.  I just don't feel right about it.

[NoDivision]

I won't buy from Taobao since I don't know where the merchandise comes from.  I just don't feel right about it.

I'm in the same mindset. And honestly I don't think there could be any explanation or outcome that would make me want to buy from there. Stolen by poor factory workers, hoarded by higher ups, freely given out as rejects, someone's little side project... no matter how they get there, I'm just not inclined to buy from taobao.

[knitgirl]

I haven't purchased, but I wish I had been able to get myself a Pony since it's most likely never going to be widely produced and I will have to settle for a custom.

I'd feel more guilty if Hasbro actually paid attention and seemed to care what fans wanted.  Even my 6 and 7 year old nieces are tired of the same ponies being released over and over.  It's boring and it's really Hasbro shooting themselves in the foot when people WANT to give them money.  There are so many beautiful background ponies that could be released and would do well.  I collect all gens and I don't understand why there could be such a huge variety of G1s and G3s but not G4s.. it makes no sense to me.

[fiwen30]

I won't buy from Taobao since I don't know where the merchandise comes from.  I just don't feel right about it.

I'm in the same mindset. And honestly I don't think there could be any explanation or outcome that would make me want to buy from there. Stolen by poor factory workers, hoarded by higher ups, freely given out as rejects, someone's little side project... no matter how they get there, I'm just not inclined to buy from taobao.

This. To me everything about Taobao seems dodgy. I would much rather own official, Hasbro produced and packaged ponies, if only because I want the line to continue. I believe in supporting things I'm fond of, and dealing under the table just to get a pony with different coloured hair doesn't sit right with me. But then I was never one for pirated movies, or downloaded music either.

[xelli]

I made a post-Taobao purchase and I'm very proud of it. They're the wedding couple, I know they will be released but to me having them earlier (for a nice price) is something I as a collector am proud of Firstly I just wanted them separately but realized that it would take ages of waiting till someone buys the castle and then decides to sell the ponies  (plus the castle will probably be reeaaally expensive in my country as all the toys are). And suddenly they pop up. So I took the chance
I don't consider it as stealing. Hasbro sells millions of toys everyday so that won't get any poorer by loosing those maybe 500 ponies that leak out somehow. And in my opinion trying to make criminals of those sellers  is a bad and a stupid strategy for the company: those leak outs are simply one big advertisement for them. And market research by the way. People buying the wedding ponies=hey the set will probably sell nicely; people buying Pony= release her as soon as possible and you'll get lots and lots more money than from trial with some poor Chinese guy. Make profit of it but in a more reasonable way.
Summing to me getting ponies that aren't and never will be in stores (as the prototypes) is one of the biggest fun of collecting. And I don't feel a tiny bit guilty and would definitely buy something that is rare and uncommon from Taobao if only I could read Chinesse

[Malicieuse]

I don't consider it as stealing. Hasbro sells millions of toys everyday so that won't get any poorer by loosing those maybe 500 ponies that leak out somehow.

I'm sorry but this kind of bothers me. Just because Hasbro is doing well (at least i assume Hasbro is doing well) doesn't make it perfectly fine to just take their stuff. I don't get why people think that as soon as you are dealing with a big company it is no longer theft. Not to mention that not everyone working at this company is some big money maker. Seriously, i don't care if people buy stuff from taobao but stuff like this just sounds like excuses to me. Again, you wouldn't just steal a pony from a store and say "well Hasbro makes a lot of money anyway!".

[moonflower]

I don't consider it as stealing. Hasbro sells millions of toys everyday so that won't get any poorer by loosing those maybe 500 ponies that leak out somehow.

I'm sorry but this kind of bothers me. Just because Hasbro is doing well (at least i assume Hasbro is doing well) doesn't make it perfectly fine to just take their stuff. I don't get why people think that as soon as you are dealing with a big company it is no longer theft. Not to mention that not everyone working at this company is some big money maker. Seriously, i don't care if people buy stuff from taobao but stuff like this just sounds like excuses to me. Again, you wouldn't just steal a pony from a store and say "well Hasbro makes a lot of money anyway!".

To be honest though, Hasbro would not have made money out of these rejects; they are worthless to them. It is not quite the same as stealing a pony from a store.

[Varkolak]

i do not feel guilty at all. i paid for a product, and i got it.
its like if other people get items on sale or for free, and sell them on ebay and make more than what they're worth. i bought the wedding castle because i didn't want to wait at all, i was way too impatient. but when they come to stores, i do plan on buying a couple more. so hasbro will still be getting money from me.

[Dragonflitter]

To be honest though, Hasbro would not have made money out of these rejects; they are worthless to them. It is not quite the same as stealing a pony from a store.

This, exactly. We have multiple examples showing that a lot of these are not finished products (like Cupcake's changed hair, Blossomforth with bangs, etc). They would never have ended up in stores to sell, and would NEVER be making Hasbro profit, even if the website taobao did not exist.

[LadyMoondancer]

I haven't bought anything off of there, but I wouldn't feel guilty about it if I did.  There is no way to know if anything on Taobao will ever be released at all (unless it's already in stores, obviously), and it's better for the stuff to get bought by a collector rather than thrown in the trash.


Case in point:


Fashion Styling Pony - we don't know if she'll be released.
FIM Minty - No sign of a release yet.
Prototype Gardenia Glow (different color symbols) - not mass released, obviously
G3 Breast Cancer Awareness ponies - never released.

[Sarah-Bee]

I've bought from them before and I will do again and don't feel guilty about it.

[michelle53]

I purchased a few international exclusives from a Taobao group order here at the Arena, and I don't feel bad about it at all.  Sorry Hasbro, but why can't you release Sky Wishes and Star Swirl in the United States??  I contemplated buying from Taobao, but decided against it because I love the thrill of the hunt!!  I mean really if you think about it, Hasbro makes zero money from people selling their G1's and other older ponies.  Sure they had the initial sale, but they are not making any money off the resale.  Considering these ponies literally cost $5-10 back in the day, Hasbro must be pretty bummed about not getting a piece of that $900 Rapunzel sale last week (congrats!)!! 

I sum it up, I don't think it is unethical to buy ponies from Taobao. 

[Dragonflitter]

And do people who feel guilty about buying from taoao also feel guilty about buying G4 plushies/other merchandise from people on ebay, because Hasbro sees no profit from these? Sure the felt and stuffing materials didn't come from Hasbro but the characters ARE copyrighted, and the toy company is seeing no profit from any plushies that are fan made. Technically, these plushies (and other things) are being made with stolen copyrighted characters.